Publication2 med aquascape Publication1cs complete | Page 108

This display aquarium uses many different shapes and sizes of
wood combined to give a great effect. All the wood featured is
collected from beech and oak .
Q Will my cichlids damage themselves on the
wood?
through the surface of the water.
Wood is an essential part of any Central American
aquarium and has many benefits. It is also worth
noting that wood harbours bacteria and levels can
rise in aquariums with too much wood. This can be
detrimental to the health of some cichlids that
may require pristine conditions such as riverine
species or the Herichthys cichlids from the Rio
Verde springs. This could show itself with ailments
such as cloud eye and scratches developing bacte-
rial growths. Good filtration and water manage-
ment should keep these concerns in check.
This unfortunately is the risk you have to decide,
however, there is always a risk be it with large
rocks or artificial décor. Make sure that the wood
doesn’t have very sharp pieces sticking out. If they
do, either round off or cut it away.
Q My wood looks very limited, how do I make it
look interesting?
Some pieces of wood can look a little under-
whelming and gives little impact to the display.
One way of bringing your wood out, is to custom-
ise it by using and fixing other different pieces to
it. By fixing thinner branch you can represent root
like appearance. Learn to position your wood us-
ing composition techniques. Try to position the
wood in different ways by having it penetrating
Wood doesn't last forever and at some point will
need replacing, especially wood that hasn’t been
preserved in bogs.
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